California is proposing to add solar power to a million homes in the next 10 years, paid for by a surcharge on electricity bills equivalent to about US$0.27 a month.
The plan, proposed by the California Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is intended to honor an election pledge of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to ensure that half of all new homes in the state are built with solar power facilities.
The surcharge would raise US$1 billion in 10 years for the installation program, with the state using the money to give rebates to home builders who install solar panels on new homes, and incentives for installing panels on existing homes.
Homeowners would be able to reduce their power bills and even make money by selling "unused" solar energy back to the electricity companies via two-way meters.
Electricity supply has been a sensitive issue since the energy crisis in 2001 when a free-for-all market pushed prices so low that many stations shut down leaving the state short of power. Solar power became more popular.
According to the California Energy Commission, while 900 photovoltaic systems were installed from 1998 to 2000, more than 11,000 systems were installed from 2001 to the middle of last year.
Most of the changes were to older properties, but with 150,000 new homes being built a year the greater potential led to a campaign for the state to use its "greatest asset" -- sunshine.
Tim Coyle, the senior vice president of the California Building Industry Association, said home systems could cost from US$17,000 to US$20,000 and would not pay for themselves as customers would typically pay US$120 a month to repay the purchase price and then receive about US$70 in "returns" in electricity generated.
The state grants are designed to make the system pay.
According to the draft plan, "each month the homeowner will save more money in reduced electricity charges than [will be paid] on the solar mortgage."
Together the solar installations would equal 36 new, 75-megawatt natural gas plants, and would avoid adding millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide into the air a year.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
CHIP WAR: The new restrictions are expected to cut off China’s access to Taiwan’s technologies, materials and equipment essential to building AI semiconductors Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯), dealing another major blow to the two companies spearheading China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip technologies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Administration has included Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries in an update of its so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list, the latest version on its Web site showed on Saturday. It did not publicly announce the change. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as companies in China, Iran and elsewhere. Local companies need
CRITICISM: It is generally accepted that the Straits Forum is a CCP ‘united front’ platform, and anyone attending should maintain Taiwan’s dignity, the council said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it deeply regrets that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) echoed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “one China” principle and “united front” tactics by telling the Straits Forum that Taiwanese yearn for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to move toward “peace” and “integration.” The 17th annual Straits Forum yesterday opened in Xiamen, China, and while the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) local government heads were absent for the first time in 17 years, Ma attended the forum as “former KMT chairperson” and met with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧). Wang
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
RSS